{"id":888901,"date":"2026-01-30T18:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/the-download-inside-the-vitalism-movement-and-why-ais-memory-is-a-privacy-problem\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T18:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:12:14","slug":"the-download-inside-the-vitalism-movement-and-why-ais-memory-is-a-privacy-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/the-download-inside-the-vitalism-movement-and-why-ais-memory-is-a-privacy-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: inside the Vitalism movement, and why AI\u2019s \u201cmemory\u201d is a privacy problem"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is today’s edition of\u00a0The Download<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

Meet the Vitalists: the hardcore longevity enthusiasts who believe death is \u201cwrong\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Last April, an excited crowd gathered at a compound in Berkeley, California, for a three-day event called the Vitalist Bay Summit. It was part of a longer, two-month residency that hosted various events to explore tools\u2014from drug regulation to cryonics\u2014that might be deployed in the fight against death.<\/p>\n

One of the main goals, though, was to spread the word of Vitalism, a somewhat radical movement established by Nathan Cheng and his colleague Adam Gries a few years ago. Consider it longevity for the most hardcore adherents\u2014a sweeping mission to which nothing short of total devotion will do.<\/p>\n

Although interest in longevity has certainly taken off in recent years, not everyone in the broader longevity space shares Vitalists\u2019 commitment to actually making death obsolete. And the Vitalists feel that momentum is building, not just for the science of aging and the development of lifespan-extending therapies, but for the acceptance of their philosophy that defeating death should be humanity\u2019s top concern<\/em>. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014Jessica Hamzelou<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the latest in our Big Story series, the home for MIT Technology Review\u2019s most important, ambitious reporting. You can <\/strong>read the rest of the series here<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

What AI \u201cremembers\u201d about you is privacy\u2019s next frontier<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Miranda Bogen, director of the AI Governance Lab at the Center for Democracy & Technology, & Ruchika Joshi, fellow at the Center for Democracy & Technology specializing in AI safety and governance<\/em><\/p>\n

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The ability to remember you and your preferences is rapidly becoming a big selling point for AI chatbots and agents.<\/p>\n

Personalized, interactive AI systems are built to act on our behalf, maintain context across conversations, and improve our ability to carry out all sorts of tasks, from booking travel to filing taxes.<\/p>\n

But their ability to store and retrieve increasingly intimate details about their users over time introduces alarming, and all-too-familiar, privacy vulnerabilities\u2013\u2013many of which have loomed since \u201cbig data\u201d first teased the power of spotting and acting on user patterns. Worse, AI agents now appear poised to plow through whatever safeguards had been adopted to avoid those vulnerabilities. So what can developers do to fix this problem? Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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How the grid can ride out winter storms<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The eastern half of the US saw a monster snowstorm over the weekend. The good news is the grid has largely been able to keep up with the freezing temperatures and increased demand. But there were some signs of strain, particularly for fossil-fuel plants.<\/p>\n

One analysis found that PJM, the nation\u2019s largest grid operator, saw significant unplanned outages in plants that run on natural gas and coal. Historically, these facilities can struggle in extreme winter weather.<\/p>\n

Much of the country continues to face record-low temperatures, and the possibility is looming for even more snow this weekend. What lessons can we take from this storm, and how might we shore up the grid to cope with extreme weather? Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014Casey Crownhart<\/em><\/p>\n

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review<\/em>\u2019s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, <\/strong>sign up here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The must-reads<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve combed the internet to find you today\u2019s most fun\/important\/scary\/fascinating stories about technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

1 Telegram has been flooded with deepfake nudes\u00a0<\/strong>
Millions of users are creating and sharing falsified images in dedicated channels. (The Guardian<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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2 China has executed 11 people linked to Myanmar scam centers<\/strong>
The members of the \u201cMing family criminal gang\u201d caused the death of at least 14 Chinese citizens. (Bloomberg<\/a> $)
+ Inside a romance scam compound\u2014and how people get tricked into being there. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3 This viral personal AI assistant is a major privacy concern<\/strong>
Security researchers are sounding the alarm on Moltbot, formerly known as Clawdbot. (The Register<\/a>)
+ It requires a great deal more technical know-how than most agentic bots. <\/em>(TechCrunch<\/a>)<\/p>\n

4 OpenAI has a plan to keep bots off its future social network<\/strong>
It\u2019s putting its faith in biometric \u201cproof of personhood\u201d promised by the likes of World\u2019s eyeball-scanning orb. (Forbes<\/a>)
+ We reported on how World recruited its first half a million test users back in 2022. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

5 Here\u2019s just some of the technologies ICE is deploying<\/p>\n

<\/strong>
From facial recognition to digital forensics. (WP<\/a> $)
+ Agents are also using Palantir\u2019s AI to sift through tip-offs. <\/em>(Wired<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

6 Tesla is axing its Model S and Model X cars \ud83d\ude97<\/p>\n

<\/strong>Its Fremont factory will switch to making Optimus robots instead. (TechCrunch<\/a>)
+ It\u2019s the latest stage of the company\u2019s pivot to AI\u2026 <\/em>(FT<\/a> $)
+ \u2026as profit falls by 46%. <\/em>(Ars Technica<\/a>)
+ Tesla is still struggling to recover from the damage of Elon Musk\u2019s political involvement. <\/em>(WP<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

7<\/strong> X is rife with weather influencers spreading misinformation<\/strong>
They\u2019re whipping up hype ahead of massive storms hitting. (New Yorker<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

8\u00a0 Retailers are going all-in on AI
<\/strong>But giants like Amazon and Walmart are taking very different approaches. (FT<\/a> $)
+ Mark Zuckerberg has hinted that Meta is working on agentic commerce tools. <\/em>(TechCrunch<\/a>)
+ We called it\u2014what\u2019s next for AI in 2026. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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9 Inside the rise of the offline hangout<\/strong>
No phones, no problem. (Wired<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

10 Social media is obsessed with 2016<\/strong>
\u2026why, exactly? (WSJ<\/a> $)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Quote of the day<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cThe amount of crap I get for putting out a hobby project for free is quite something.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Peter Steinberger, the creator of the viral AI agent Moltbot, complains about the backlash his project has received from security researchers pointing out its flaws in a post<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n

One more thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n
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The flawed logic of rushing out extreme climate solutions<\/strong>Early in 2022, entrepreneur Luke Iseman says, he released a pair of sulfur dioxide\u2013filled weather balloons from Mexico\u2019s Baja California peninsula, in the hope that they\u2019d burst miles above Earth.<\/p>\n

It was a trivial act in itself, effectively a tiny, DIY act of solar geoengineering, the controversial proposal that the world could counteract climate change by releasing particles that reflect more sunlight back into space.<\/p>\n

Entrepreneurs like Iseman invoke the stark dangers of climate change to explain why they do what they do\u2014even if they don\u2019t know how effective their interventions are. But experts say that urgency doesn\u2019t create a social license to ignore the underlying dangers or leapfrog the scientific process. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014James Temple<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

We can still have nice things<\/strong><\/p>\n

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? <\/em>Drop me a line<\/em><\/a> or <\/em>skeet ’em at me<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

+ The hottest thing in art right now? Vertical paintings<\/a>.
+ There\u2019s something in the water around Monterey Bay\u2014a tail walking dolphin<\/a>!
+ Fed up of hairstylists not listening to you? Remember these handy tips<\/a> the next time you go for a cut.
+ Get me a one-way ticket to Japan\u2019s tastiest island<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Rhiannon Williams<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is today’s edition of\u00a0The Download ,\u00a0our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Meet the Vitalists: the hardcore longevity enthusiasts who believe death is \u201cwrong\u201d Last April, an excited crowd gathered at a compound in Berkeley, California, for a three-day event called the Vitalist Bay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":888902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24097,118,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-888901","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-download","8":"category-inside","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}